Barry Diller and Alkiviades "Alki" David have agreed to put an end to a legal brouhaha that has vaguely amused the entertainment industry since last August.
InterActiveCorp (IAC) boss Diller and FilmOn honcho David have entered a settlement agreement over a lawsuit stemming from David's BarryDriller.com website.
Also read: Aereo, Enemy of Broadcast Networks, Raises $38M to Expand Into 22 Cities
As part of the settlement, which dismisses all claims from both parties with prejudice, David is barred from using the phrases "Barry Diller," "Barry Driller," "BarryDriller.com." "Barry Driller Inc." and/or "BarryDriller Content Systems PLC" in connection "with any commercial or business-related activity."
David is also prohibited from using "any derivative or confusingly similar variant of any of the foregoing terms, or any other aspect of the trademarks, name, voice, likeness or any other indicia of identity of Plaintiff Barry Diller."
Also read: Barry Diller Sues Copycat Site BarryDriller.com
Diller and David will also pay their own legal fees and other costs associated with the suit, which will surely come as a relief to the two business moguls.
Diller filed suit against David last August, claiming that David's website BarryDriller.com, purports to offer an identical service to Aereo, which allows users to watch broadcast television over the internet. (Diller backs Aereo via IAC.) Diller's suit, filed in U.S. District Court in California, claimed that the similarities in service, combined with the fact that BarryDriller.com is nearly identical to Diller's name, meant that BarryDriller.com is attempting to "associate their service with plaintiff."
"The terms 'BarryDriller.com,' 'BarryDriller' and 'Barry Driller' are substantially similar to Plaintiff's name, 'Barry Diller,' and are therefore likely to mislead consumers into believing that there is an association between Plaintiff and 'BarryDriller.com' when in fact there is not," the lawsuit read.
Diller can now focus on the other legal saga surrounding Aereo. The company — which plans to expand to 22 other cities, after initially being available only in New York City — is fighting copyright-infringement suits from the broadcast networks. So far, Aereo has weathered the legal challenges, with a judge shooting down the network's request to block the service. Last week, Aereo filed a motion for summary judgment on the complaints.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.